The Benefit of the Doubt
by BilbosBooty
Summary: After the events of Datalore Lore was left floating through space. Eventually he is pulled into the gravitational well of a distant star, and gets dragged through an asteroid belt. Luckily, the Enterprise is close enough to notice him on their scans. Unluckily, he's smashed into several pieces. Data and Geordi manage to reassemble him, but it seems that Lore's memory has been lost.
1. Chapter 1

**Second Officers Log, Stardate 43057.4: The emergency supply mission to the Epsilon Omega Terraforming Colony has been completed without incident. A planet wide drought has struck the colony, causing the crops to fail and destroying the terraformers attempts to set up a stable water cycle. An away team beamed down to the planet approximately 3.24 hours ago to inspect the damage, and will return at 0700 hours. The planet has reverted to the same desert-like terrain it had when the terraforms arrived, rendering over four years of work futile, yet the colony residents seem eager to continue their work on Epsilon Omega.**

* * *

Data finished his log entry and leant back slightly in the Command Chair. This night, like most others, he had the Bridge. His internal chronometer told him there were 32 minutes of the Night Watch left before Commander Riker relieved him. Data peered over the dim Bridge to his usual Ops Station, seeing the console perfectly even from this distance. The average surface temperature of the planet had begun to plateau at forty three degrees Celsius, _'lower than expected'_ he idly observed.

"What is the status of the away team?" he asked the Bridge at large.

"They're just leaving the City Hall, according to sensors, Commander." The Junior Ensign, who sat at Ops announced, turning in her chair to face Data. He nodded curtly, as another ensign behind him began speaking.

"Sir, Commander La Forge says the away team has finished their inspection, and is ready to beam up."

"Make it so." Data said with an experimental smile. He suspected it didn't look quite right, if the Ensign's double take was anything to go by.

A few seconds passed as Data stared at the view screen contemplatively. The subtleties of human facial expressions still, apparently, eluded him. He had learned to recognise over six hundred subtly different expressions, but using even a simple one in the correct context was proving difficult.

" _La Forge to Data_ " his combadge chirped.

"Yes, Geordi?" Data said, tapping his combadge.

" _We've finished up on Epsilon Omega; the drought has just about wiped everything out down there. Hopefully the supplies we've delivered will keep them going until they can grow some food of their own._ " The sound of a turbolift door opening and closing echoed quietly in the background of Geordi's communication. " _However, Dr Price tells me there's nothing they can do to stop this happening again._ "

"Very well Geordi, I will note it in my report. Data out." Data replied, tapping his combadge again. He immediately began mentally writing his report for the Captain.

The rest of the Night Watch passed in relative normality, the only exception being an odd energy blip right at the edge of sensor range. The turbolift doors wooshed open at 6:59am and Commander Riker strode onto the Bridge. Data rose from the Command Chair.

"You have the Bridge, Commander." Data said, stepping aside. Riker nodded.

"Thank you, Mr Data. Anything to report?" he asked, leaning against the Ops Station to observe the desolate, sandy planet that filled the view screen.

"The away team have completed their inspection, and have returned to the Enterprise. Commander La Forge believes the colonists will be able to continue terraforming the planet with the supplies we have delivered." Data relayed. Riker nodded again, walking toward the Command Chair. Data quietly inhaled a breath.

"Sir, there was also an energy spike, 16 minutes ago, located on the boundary of our long range sensor sweep." He said, tilting his head.

"Do you know what it was?" Riker asked, getting up almost the instant he sat down, and headed toward the Ops Station once again.

"No, sir. We were unable to rule out a system malfunction, and the anomaly disappeared before a secondary scan could be completed." Data said from where he stood beside the Conn. Riker hummed thoughtfully, peering over the Ensigns shoulder.

"It looks like we'll be heading that way anyway." Riker said, returning to his chair. "The captain wants to drop in at Starbase 23." Data nodded as Riker prodded at the controls on the arm of his chair. "Computer, begin Day Watch. You're relieved Commander."

Data dipped his head and turned toward the turbolift as the Ensigns began their rotation.

* * *

He arrived at his quarters exactly three minutes, fifty two seconds later. Spot was curled up, sleeping on the sofa, with her paw over her eyes. He regarded her for a moment, watching as her ears twitched. He thought about waking her up to feed her, but almost instantly decided against it. Instead, he went to get a shower; not because he particularly needed one, but it seemed to him that most humans tended to have a routine about these things.

After his shower, he had to replicate himself a new uniform. Ordinarily, he would have worn the same one he'd just taken off, seeing as he didn't sweat, or eat, or make much mess at all, so his clothes never really needed cleaning. Some exceptions, of course, being when he was crawling around in jungles with the away team, or dragging himself through the Jeffries Tubes deep in the bowels of the Enterprise. This time however, Starfleet had just issued a new uniform to all Starship personnel, replacing the old one-piece jumpsuit with a slightly looser two-piece collared pullover and pants.

Data stood in front of his replicator, wearing a black vest and shorts that Geordi had told him most of the crew used as pyjamas, waiting for his new uniform to be brought into existence. As he retrieved his shirt, Spot trotted over to him, meowing, and padded her claws into his foot.

"What is it, Spot?" he asked, reaching down to scratch her behind the ears. She meowed again, and wound herself around his legs. "Ah." He retrieved his now fully formed pants from the replicator. "Feline supplement number seven." He said, pulling his shirt over his head.

He placed the bowl down in front of Spot, and finished getting dressed.

" _Commander Data to the Bridge._ " Captain Picard's voice said from his combadge.

"On my way Sir." Data replied almost immediately, smoothing his tousled hair back into its usual style as he pulled on his boots.

* * *

Data arrived on the Bridge just as Councillor Troi was stepping out of the adjacent turbolift. Captain Picard was seated in his chair, with Commander Riker sat on his right, and an empty chair to his left.

"-on screen ensign." Picard was saying as the turbolift doors opened. The Councillor greeted Data with a smile, and took her seat next to the Captain. Data stepped sideways to the nearest vacant science station along the back of the Bridge, quickly retrieving and reviewing the recent sensor logs. It would appear the Enterprise was investigating the peculiar sensor blip that the Night Watch had detected. They were currently trailing along the edge of a wide asteroid belt, scanning for the energy signature. Data looked over to the view screen.

The surface of an asteroid was magnified to almost fill the screen. Something glittered on the surface in the light from a distant star, shimmering as the Enterprise slowly moved by.

"Is that what's causing the signal?" Picard asked, looking to the Ensign at ops.

"Aye sir." He replied. "We're viewing the Ultraviolet spectrum, overlaying the visible."

"So that glittering…" Riker began asking, before trailing off as he noticed Data turn toward the view screen.

"The positronic signature, commander." The ensign replied. "There are several asteroids nearby with the same phenomenon."

"Captain." Data said finally, stepping away from the science station and onto the main Bridge.

"Ah, Mr Data." Captain Picard said before Data could start asking questions. "I suspect you'll want filling in on the details."

"It would be appreciated, sir." Data replied, still examining the view screen with rapt interest.

"That energy signal you detected." Riker began explaining. "We decided to look into it on our way past." He looked to the view screen. "Turns out it was something after all."

A million possibilities ran through Data's brain, most of which highly improbable. It was time like these that he wished he had what humans called intuition; then he might have a feeling about what was happening. As it stood however, all he had to go on was cold hard fact.

"Take us within transporter range, Mr Gawelski." Picard ordered.

"Aye sir." The Ensign at the Conn replied.

"Lieutenant Bronn, prepare to beam up anything on these asteroids with something that even resembles a positronic signature." Picard sighed, looking to Data again. "Any ideas what it could be, Mr Data?"

Data walked to the Ops Station, as the Ensign hurried out of his chair. He tapped the controls, viewing an in depth scan report of the collective signatures.

"They appear to be mechanical parts." Data said at length. "Perhaps… parts of a vessel or…" he wracked his brain for ideas as he reviewed more sensor logs, compiling the information together. "Total mass of approximately ninety two kilograms. Sir," he turned away from the console to face the captain. "the positronic signature is consistent with my own."

"What do you mean Data?" Councillor Troi spoke for the first time.

"I would have to conclude that the energy readings are coming from a Soong-Type Android." Data replied.

"But, there are over twenty distinct signals!" Riker said, watching as the view screen zoomed out to reveal a spread of shining energy blips covering three asteroids.

"Yes, there are, Commander. Judging by the pattern of the energy sources, it looks like the scatter from a high velocity impact." Data replied.

"Gentlemen, if you'll follow me." Captain Picard announced, rising from his chair and heading for the turbolift. He tapped him combadge as Commander Riker and Data followed him inside.

"Commander La Forge to Transporter Room Three."


	2. Chapter 2

Data crouched on the transporter pad, sifting through piles of burnt out electronics and hydraulic gears. The smell of fried circuits drifted through the room.

"Mr Data, are you sure this used to be an android?" Captain Picard asked, looking over the full magnitude of the wreckage.

"Yes, sir." Data replied, dragging what appeared to be a robotic arm out from under a tangled mass of wires. "Most of the identifiable components here are identical to the ones used in my construction, and the positronic signature leaves me in no doubt that this is the remains of an android built by Dr Soong."

The bioplast sheeting on the arm was all but gone; a few charred patches remained between the fingers. Data tapped at the wrist a few times, causing sparks to flicker lamely out of the severed electronics. Picard and Riker shared a look, Data noticed. He was unsure of exactly what the look was supposed to mean, ' _possibly to indicate shared confusion or shock_ ' he theorised internally. Data cast the arm aside and dug around in a heap to his left, where the burning circuit smell seemed to be originating from.

"Number One, perform an in-depth scan of the surrounding asteroids. See if you can find any more of… this." Picard gestured to the transporter pad, where Data had all but submerged himself in broken android. "If nothing turns up, carry on to Starbase 23."

"Aye, Sir." Riker nodded, turning swiftly toward the door, and almost ran into Geordi on his way out.

"Sorry it took me so long to get here Captain." Geordi said, sidestepping Riker. "Lieutenant Rosheto was running another Warp Core diagnostic and she-" he trailed off, staring toward the cluttered transporter pad.

Data had stood up, disentangling himself, and currently had the left half of a head in his hands. Shockingly, most of the skin was still intact, hanging down in shredded ribbons where it had been cleaved in two. The face was blank and expressionless, with a single eye staring into nothingness.

Geordi would've recognised that face anywhere. It was strange, he thought, seeing Data hold what looked like his own severed head. Just how many androids had Dr Soong made?

Data picked at the hairline, peeling the edge back. He pried open a tiny jammed access panel with his fingers. Dim lights blinked slowly up at him from underneath the skin, indicating positronic activity. He hummed quietly and looked genuinely surprised. He flicked open another access panel, and another, prodding around inside them. The blinking lights became more rapid, growing stronger.

"Data…" Geordi began, lost for words. "Is that…"

"It is Lore." Data replied, looking down in alarm as sparks shot from she exposed side of the head. He watched as the blinking lights became dimmer and almost stopped all together.

* * *

The senior staff congregated around the long table in the observation lounge. The right side of Lore's head had been found moments after Geordi arrived, and now both sides sat in the centre of the table, lights still blinking sluggishly. The rest of the parts were currently on their way to the on-board cybernetics lab, ready for Geordi and Data to try to piece back together.

"Now, Commander." Captain Picard began from the head of the table. "Can you be _sure_ that this is Lore?"

"Yes, Sir." Data said, leaning forwards. "Of all the parts we have catalogued so far, all have been consistent with those used in Lore's construction, recorded by Dr Crusher when my brother was first discovered. They include a Type L Phase Discriminating Amplifier, three positronic-"

"Thank you, Mr Data. That will be sufficient." Picard cut in. "The question still remains, what should be done with him?"

"Sir, we don't even know if he's functioning." Geordi began explaining. "It's really too early to tell; there's some indication that his consciousness wasn't completely destroyed, but, well…" he gestured to the head. "Undamaged is really not a word I'd use."

Captain Picard sighed and leant back in his chair.

"What would you suggest?" He asked Geordi.

"Honestly, I'd say put him back together." Geordi said, resting his elbows on the table. "It'll be the best way to assess the damage to his systems, and even if he did try to kill us last time he was here, that hardly means he deserves to die."

"Would it count as death?" Commander Riker interjected. "Leaving him in pieces like this?"

"I believe this condition fits the human description of death." Data said. "Or, more accurately, comatose, from which one would not naturally awaken."

"Gentlemen, now is not the time for a philosophical debate on the nature of death." The Captain said, putting an end to the conversation. "As I see it, we have no guarantees that Lore will even wake up, as it were." Geordi and Data shared a look, and nodded. "Commander Data, Commander La Forge, get him reassembled, work double shifts if you have to. I would like him as functional as possible by the time we get to Starbase 23; the last thing we need is for Commander Maddox and his ilk to get wind of this before we've fully explored all the options ourselves."

"Captain?" Riker asked. "What will we do with Lore if he _does_ make a full recovery?" he leant forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table. "To my knowledge, he's still a wanted criminal."

Picard sighed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it Number One." The Captain looked at each of his officers in turn. "For now, let's just focus on getting to Starbase 23."

"To which bridge is the captain referring, Geordi?" Data asked quietly, turning to his friend who sat next to him.

"He means we'll deal with that problem when it happens." Geordi hissed back.

"Ah, another figure of speech." Data nodded knowingly. Geordi sighed as Data's eyes glazed over, making it apparent that he was searching his memory banks for every single use of that phrase in recorded history.

"First recorded in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's _The Golden Legend_ as 'Don't cross a bridge till you come to it' being referenced as an-"

"Data, you can tell me the etymology later, right now we should-" Geordi whispered hurriedly.

"Commander La Forge!" Captain Picard interrupted, looking at him expectantly. Geordi and Data whipped their heads up and stared around the table like a pair of school children who had been caught talking. Worf looked vaguely amused.

"We were just discussing the Starbase visit that you requested a week ago, if you'd care to join us." The Captain said patiently.

"Sorry sir." Geordi said sheepishly. "Our warp drive efficiency has dropped by three percent in the last month. Now, we've run all the diagnostics we can down in engineering, and we can't seem to find the problem."

"Three percent is a big drop, Commander." Picard said.

"I know sir, that was my first thought. I wanted to run some more in depth diagnostics on the warp core, to see if we can find the problem, but we need to stop at a Starbase to use their equipment." Geordi explained.

"Starbase 23 stocks the correct equipment." Data added helpfully. "As do Starbases 7, 12, 45, and 90, and Deep Space Stations 1 through 4."

"Very well. Number one, how long until we reach Starbase 23?" Picard asked, turning to his first officer.

"If we continue at warp six Sir, three days." Riker answered.

"Well, we're not in a hurry. Gentlemen, you have three days." Picard nodded to Data and Geordi as he rose from his seat. "Now then everyone, back to work. We've still got that First Contact mission to arrange."

* * *

"Data." Geordi said as they stepped through the doors of the cybernetics lab. "Do you really think we can put Lore back together in three days?"

"I believe so." Data said, heading for the nearest work bench.

"But he's in thousands of tiny pieces!" Geordi exclaimed, gesturing around the room. Every surface was covered with heaps of circuitry and mechanical parts. Lore's head had been brought up from the observation lounge, and now sat on a table at the far side of the room, its lights blinking dimly.

Data smiled innocently. "I believe we will be required to 'ignite the midnight petroleum'."

"Where the hell do we even start?" Geordi sighed, pulling up Data's schematics on a view screen off to one side.

"At the beginning?" Data suggested, holding half of Lore's head up.

* * *

Geordi took a break for lunch as the morning shift ended. They had worked quickly, much to his surprise, piecing together the rest of Lore's Positronic Cortex Unit, and most of his right arm. It had become apparent after a short time that they were missing several pieces, mainly the left hand and forearm, but also several memory engrams and a few none essential chips. Tables now lined the edges of the room, with pieces neatly aligned into groups across them; one was dedicated to the Spatial Orientation Servo, another to the Substrate Interface. What had been found of the Locomotion Subsystems had been spread across three tables.

Geordi perched on the edge of another that was filled with as yet unidentified parts; some of which had been rent and broken beyond recognition, others looked either so generic or so strange neither of them could be sure of their purpose.

"What do you think this is?" Geordi asked, holding up a scorched metal box, about the size of a tricorder.

Data looked up from where he was tracing Lore's neural pathways.

"I am unsure." He said, putting down his tools and reaching over to take the box from Geordi. It weighed approximately one point two four Kilograms, had a temperature of two hundred and eighty seven point three six Kelvin, and appeared to be made from reinforced steel plating. He turned it over in his hands, noting how the blackened exterior rubbed off on his fingers, revealing dull metal beneath. There appeared to be a magnetic connection port on the rear side, but other than that, it was plain.

"I do not recognise it." He said, handing it back. "Perhaps it was already in place when Lore was rebuilt." He turned his attention back to Lore's neural pathways.

"Yeah, maybe." Geordi sighed. "I'm sure we'll find where all this stuff fits sooner or later anyway." He nodded to the table that he sat on and took a sip of his coffee.

Geordi was about to get back to work, piecing Lore's Chemical Fuel Reaction Unit together, when Captain Picard strolled through the doors.

"What can we do for you, Captain?" Geordi asked, placing his empty mug back into the replicator and watching as it was reabsorbed into the matter stream.

"Don't let me disturb you." The Captain replied, watching as Data returned Lore's head to his half formed shoulders. "I just came to see how you were getting on."

"I have repaired the damage to his positronic matrix." Data began. "However, he is missing most of his recent memory engrams, and his Data Storage Unit has been heavily damaged."

"Prognosis, Mr Data?" Picard asked, looking over the burned out parts on the to-be-identified table.

"Lore should function, once we have finished re-assembling him." Data explained. "However if his memory engrams are not found, and we continue to be unable to restore his Data Storage Unit, his memory will be irretrievable."

"You mean he won't remember anything that's happened to him?" Captain Picard asked.

"It's more than that, captain." Geordi said. "If his Data Storage Unit is offline, his Positronic Matrix will default to its ' _factory settings_ ' as it were, to avoid the possibility of cascade failure."

"Is there any way you can avoid this ' _reset_ '?" Picard said, looking to Data.

"I am afraid not, Sir." Data replied. "We would need to reactivate his Data Sub-Processors to disable the reaction, but the reset will occur the instant he is reactivated."

"I see." Captain Picard nodded slowly. "Do you think he'll be reassembled before we reach Starbase 23?"

"At this rate, we should be finished by the end of tomorrow's nightshift." Geordi smiled, plugging a wide ribbon cable into the back of Lore's exposed spinal cord.

* * *

"Are you on the night watch?" Geordi asked as Data fished about on the random parts table, looking for an Auxiliary Servo Pump. There was only twenty minutes of the afternoon shift left, and Geordi really needed some time away from all these circuits.

"I believe Doctor Crusher is covering it for me." Data replied, fining what he was looking for.

"Covering it?" Geordi said. "But you've worked two shifts already."

"Yes. I intended to remain here, and reassemble Lore's Central Servo Pump, during the night watch." Data replied. "The Captain did say that he wanted this done as fast as possible."

"But don't you want to take a break?" Geordi said. "We've been doing this for almost sixteen hours!"

"I do not require rest, Geordi. You know that." Data said, "I would-"

"No, come on. We'll finish up the Upper Spinal Support and Central Power Cavity, and then were going to Tenforward." Geordi sighed.

Data opened his mouth, and then immediately closed it. He looked over to Geordi, trying to read his expression.

"…Okay?" he tried, guessing that Geordi would not be easily persuaded to leave him be.

"Good." Geordi smiled, snapping Lore's spine into place at the base of his neck.

* * *

It was around 0200 hours when Data and Geordi had finally made it to Tenforward. They sat at a small table by the wide window, looking out into the stars. The hustle and bustle had begun to die down as crewmen who were on the Alpha Shift had started leaving.

Geordi was tired, but he wouldn't admit it. He'd already resigned himself to being tired for the foreseeable future; they were due back in the cybernetics lab for the morning shift at 0700. He watched as a far off star let out a solar flare, only visible at this distance in the X-Ray waveband.

He wondered what might happen to Lore once he was reactivated. Would he be sent to trial? Perhaps he would be acquitted on account of his memory loss?

He was torn out of his musing as Guinan set down a tray on their table. She placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of each of them. They were topped with cream and chocolate sprinkles.

Data opened his mouth to say something, however he was cut short.

"You looked like you needed them." Guinan smiled, and turned away with a swish of her dress.

Data hummed quietly and picked up his drink.

"I have noticed that humans sometimes drink hot chocolate to help them sleep, also for relaxation. Councillor Troi has told me numerus times that she always drinks it before she goes to bed." Data rambled, watching as the cream melted and lost its cohesion.

Geordi took a sip, noting that it was the perfect temperature. He sent out a silent prayer, thanking whatever forces had brought Guinan to them.

"Although, others do not seem to have a reason to drink it, other than enjoying the taste." Data continued undisturbed. "The Aztecs are credited with originally roasting cocoa beans to produce a chocolate drink, however they seasoned it with wine and spices and served it cold. Chocolate was brought to the European continent in the early sixteenth century, and there it became a drink that was served hot. The inclusion of milk was an English idea, when it spread to the island in the mid-eighteenth century."

"Data?" Geordi asked, turning toward his friend.

"Yes, Geordi?" Data replied, sipping his drink.

"How on earth do you know so much about Hot Chocolate?"

"I have researched most human customs and etiquette, in an effort to better understand the human condition." Data replied, drinking half of his mug in one Gulp.

Geordi smiled and shook his head.

* * *

"I wanted to have another look at those schematics, before I hit the hay." Geordi said, stifling a yawn as they stopped outside the door to Data's quarters.

"Hit the hay?" Data asked, looking confused.

"Before I go to bed." Geordi rephrased with a long suffering smile.

"Ah." Data said, keying in his passcode and ushering Geordi in the door in front of him.

The first thing Geordi did was take a seat on Data's sofa, seeming glad of the rest. Data went over to his work station, and quickly found the schematics that Geordi was looking for. He downloaded them onto a Padd and handed it to his friend, as Spot jumped up onto the sofa.

Data noticed a thin layer of grease covering everything he touched, and tried to wipe it off of his hands.

"I know, I'm covered in it too." Geordi yawned, holding up his hand. It shimmered in the dim night time light. "I think its hydraulic fluid or something."

Data nodded and walked to his little-used bathroom to try to remove it.

He had only stepped out of the room for five minutes, but when he returned, Geordi was fast asleep, with Spot curled up in his lap. He had one hand resting on her head, and the Padd still grasped in the other.

A small smile graced Data's face as he looked at his sleeping friends, one that he wasn't sure he'd consciously put there.


	3. Chapter 3

Geordi awoke the next day to a haze of infrared and a pain in his neck. It took him a minute to realise that he was still in Data's quarters, sprawled on the sofa with a blanket laid neatly on top of him. He sat up quickly, casting the blanket aside and straightening his twisted shirt. Data was nowhere to be seen.

"Computer, what time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"The current time is 10:48am." The computer replied. Geordi was about to leap to his feet, when Spot jumped up onto his lap.

"No, Spot, c'mon. I was supposed to be in the lab four hours ago!" he said, trying to get her off without being scratched. She meowed in protest and dug her claws into his thigh. He sighed and tapped his combadge.

"La Forge to Data."

"Y _es Geordi?_ " Data's voice replied

"Data, why didn't you wake-" Geordi began accusingly, only to be interrupted by Spot meowing loudly into his communicator.

"I see you are still in my quarters." Data said as Counsellor Troi giggled in the background.

"Yeah." Geordi sighed as Spot sniffed at his communicator. "I'll have to check in at engineering before I join you."

"Okay, Data out."

* * *

Data had arrived back at the cybernetics lab in time for the morning shift, leaving Geordi to sleep. Since then, he had fixed the Central Servo Pump, worked out where most of the unidentified parts went, and discovered that many of Lore's Input Processing Chips were damaged beyond repair. Alongside this, the main Thought-Pattern Regulator was missing all together, and would need to be redesigned. ' _No matter though_ ', Data thought, he could just design one based on his own brain.

Counsellor Troi had dropped by just after half past ten, to see how things were going, and to ask a few questions.

She leant against the podium where Lore was now almost fully assembled, as Data ended his communication with Geordi.

"Has the Captain said what'll happen if Lore wakes up?" She asked, looking over the bare circuits and blinking lights.

"No, he has not." Data said, turning the mysterious black box over in his hands. It was now the last part to be identified. "Though I expect he has submitted a report on the matter to Starfleet."

"I'm sure he has." Troi smiled knowingly.

"Counsellor…" Data began, holding out the box. "Have you any idea what this is?"

She looked at it for a second or two.

"No, Data. I'm not an engineer." she laughed. "What is it?"

"We do not know." He replied. "It is not catalogued, and does not appear to logically fit anywhere. Nor, to my knowledge, do I possess one of my own."

Deanna frowned.

"Well, do you have any extra wires not attached to anything that look like they'll fit?" she asked. "I fixed a tricorder at the academy like that once."

"Counsellor, my brother is not a tricorder." Data said, setting the box down.

"No, he isn't." she said, patting his arm gently. "But you seem all out of ideas, and the same logic might apply." She picked up the box. "Does it have a plug anywhere?" she turned it over in her hands.

"There is a magnetic connection port on the back." He replied, remembering the locations of all of the as yet unused connectors that hung from Lore's lifeless form.

"There are a few places we might try." Data said, opening a large access panel on Lore's chest.

In no time, Deanna had her hands covered in some sort of synthetic lubricant, and was using a complicated-looking laser tool, she wasn't quite sure what it actually was, to melt some impossibly thin wires together, as Data all but forced the metal box into a slot that was slightly too small for it.

"What will you say to him when he wakes up, Data?" Deanna asked, moving onto another set of wires.

"I do not know." Data replied. "I suppose I should-"

Geordi chose this moment to flounce dramatically through the door.

"You will not believe the day I'm having Data!" Geordi sighed, sitting on the steps that led up to Lore's podium.

"What has happened Geordi?" Data asked, leaving the box hanging half in and half out.

"Oh, where do I start!" he cried, putting his head in his hands. "First, Spot wouldn't get off me this morning, so it took me forty five minutes to get to engineering." He said.

"Spot is a very demanding feline." Data observed.

"You can say that again." Geordi replied. Data tilted his head.

"Spot is a very-" Data was interrupted by Geordi sighing loudly.

"What else happened?" Deanna asked as she leant against a guard rail.

"When I finally got to engineering, Ensign Billany had left the main access panel on the warp core open all night, and the outer antimatter confinement unit has corroded from being exposed to the atmosphere for so long." Geordi rubbed his temples.

"Is that bad?" Deanna asked, looking between him and Data.

"Bad is one way to put it." Geordi said.

"If the antimatter confinement unit is corroded, it could lead to a failure of the antimatter confinement field, and ultimately a warp core breach." Data explained.

"Ah." Deanna said. "So what did you do about it?"

"Well, we locked it back up, and restored the vacuum, but the Captain wasn't happy when I told him about it. It's taken our efficiency down another 3 percent, and we're limited to warp six to avoid making it worse." Geordi dragged himself to his feet as Deanna gave him a sympathetic look. "And this greasy stuff is impossible to get off my hands." He said, looking to Data.

"It is most probably the silicon based nutrient used in most of our bio-functions." Data said. "I believe that Tasha made a similar observation when we-"

"Okay, Data. Say no more." Geordi said quickly, before Data had the chance to overshare again.

* * *

Data and Geordi had Lore almost reassembled by the evening; he still needed a new arm, which Geordi had replicated and was piecing together while Data finished up designing the Thought Patter Regulator. Data fed a long list of parts and information to the computer, watching as a holographic projection of his design twinkled in front of him.

"Do you have the night watch tonight?" Geordi asked, looking up from his work.

"Yes, I do." Data replied, nodding to himself as his hands flew across the replicator input screen. "I must report to the bridge by 2100 hours."

"Why so early?" Geordi asked. "Gamma shift doesn't start until 11."

"I wanted to use the bridge science station to review the scatter of Lore's constituent parts in the asteroid field where he was found." Data explained, watching as the replicator produced six small chips. "I thought that maybe I could extrapolate his trajectory and find out exactly what happened to him."

"That's a good idea." Geordi replied. "You'll have to be going soon, its nearly eight now."

"Yes, I suppose I will." Data said, almost regretfully. He carried his chips over to the central platform and gazed up into Lore's blank, staring eyes.

To anyone else, Lore would've looked just as he always did, except for the glassy sheen that covered his eyes. But to Data, he suspected this was what humans felt like to look at a corpse. He could see the lack of electrical activity beneath Lore's skin, the deathly stillness of his chest, and that the usually glittering of his golden eyes that Data was accustomed to seeing in the mirror was utterly absent, replaced with a dull yellow hue.

The last time he'd seen his brother he'd ordered him to be beamed out into the vacuum of space without a thought to how long he'd survive. He'd considered it later, of course, but at that moment, not a single worry for Lore's wellbeing had crossed his mind. He often wondered if this made him a bad person.

"Data?" Geordi asked, pulling him out of his musing.

Geordi stood beside him, looking at him with concern.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked, looking to Lore.

"The last time I saw him, we fought." Data said after a moment. "I cast him out into space without a second thought."

"Oh, Data." Geordi sighed, putting his hand on his friends shoulder comfortingly. "It's not your fault."

"I wonder what he would say, if he could remember." Data said distantly. His faced remained as serene as ever but Geordi knew he felt something. Maybe not in the same way that humans did, but he knew that Data wasn't completely devoid of feeling.

"I do not think he would be happy to see me." Data reached forward and gently opened an access panel on the side of Lore's head. He carefully slotted the chips into place.

* * *

Data arrived on the bridge at exactly 2100 hours. He'd left Geordi in the cybernetics lab to finish attaching Lore's arm. Lore would be ready for reactivation the following morning, if everything went to plan. No one batted an eyelid as Data stepped out of the turbolift and seated himself at a vacant science station.

He drummed away at the console, quickly retrieving the sensor records from the previous sweeps. He pieced together a graphical plot of all the positronic signals that had been detected, and quite easily identified the scattering pattern. His original hypothesis appeared to be correct.

Data used his own size and the dimensions of the impact crater to calculate Lore's impact speed, which was a shocking 72 metres per second. It was a wonder there were even pieces of him to find, never mind that he was still functioning.

It took him a few moments, but he had created a mathematical model of the collision. It showed certain pieces of the debris created by the impact achieving escape velocity from the asteroid field, and hurtling off in the opposite direction. ' _Logically, this is what happened to the missing pieces._ ' Data thought.

He hummed in thought, and reviewed the rest of the sensor logs and operations reports since the last time he'd been on the bridge.

Nothing much had happened in the last couple of days, he concluded. The only thing of interest was Geordi's report on the corroded antimatter confinement unit. There were a few other notes about faulty circuitry in some of the crew quarters, and a summary of further repairs carried out on the transporter that was still damaged from what the senior staff has taken to calling 'The Ferengi Incident'.

Data skimmed through Geordi's report at an inhuman speed, and forwarded his request for extra time at Starbase to the Captain. It seemed the damage was severe enough to warrant a complete refit of the whole confinement unit.

He spent the rest of his time before his shift reading through the information on the faulty circuits, mainly out of curiosity. There seemed to be a design flaw with some of the circuitry that ran through decks six and eight; if too much power was diverted to the replicators on those decks it would short circuit and take out the environmental settings with it.

Data pondered this for a while. Perhaps rerouting the replicator power through the secondary systems would fix it? He would have to talk to Geordi about it when they reached Starbase 23.

"Computer, begin night watch." Captain Picard ordered. "Mr Data, you have the conn."

"Aye sir." Data replied. The lights on the bridge dimmed to an ambient glow as Data took his seat in the command chair.

* * *

Yet again, the night watch was uneventful. Data sat, posture perfect, in the command chair for a solid eight hours. He reviewed a few circuit diagrams for the replicators and life support systems on the command library computer. Apart from that though he mainly sat there and ' _looked pretty_ ', as he though some humans might say. Although human notions of beauty were somewhat lost on him, he could appreciate the sentiment.

"Begin day watch." Data ordered as Commander Riker trudged onto the bridge stifling a yawn.

"You're relieved Commander." Riker said, clapping him on the shoulder as Data rose from the command chair. "Anything to report?" he asked.

Data watched as Captain Picard strode across the bridge and into his ready room.

"Nothing sir." Data said.

"Good." Riker nodded with a chuckle, sitting in the chair.

Data excused himself and went purposefully to the Captain's ready room. He pressed the door signal and was almost immediately invite in.

"Ah, Data." The Captain greeted as Data stepped inside. "How was the night watch?"

"Nothing to report, sir." Data replied.

"Good." Picard smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to ask, sir…" Data hesitated, as if nervous of the answer. Picard motioned for him to continue. "What will happen to my brother?"

Captain Picard sighed.

"I sent my report to Starfleet." He began. "Stating that Lore was not in working order but we hoped that he could be repaired by yourself and Commander La Forge."

Data nodded.

"I received a reply a few moments ago. They're allowing us to reactivate Lore, but they want an immediate update on his condition before any decisions can be made." Picard explained. "Once he's reactivated, we've been ordered to keep him under constant watch until a decision is made."

"I understand sir." Data nodded and swiftly turned to leave.

"Data!" the Captain called as Data reached the door, compassion lingering in his voice. Data turned back.

"Yes, sir?" he asked.

"Data," Picard paused. "I promise you, as your commanding officer and as your friend, that if Lore is even in the slightest bit damaged I will do everything in my power to see that he remains in your care, and not palmed off onto some cybernetics students, or to an institution in the outer reaches of the galaxy." He said sincerely, placing the datapadd that he held down onto his desk and giving Data his undivided attention.

"Aye sir." Data said after a few seconds. "Thank you."

* * *

The cybernetics lab was dark. Lights blinked from the consoles that lined the walls, illuminating Lore's frozen form. Wires hung from open access panels all over his body. His 'skin' had been repaired, now as smooth and unmarred as Data's. Since his reassembly he'd been dressed in yellow engineering scrubs, and his hair had been combed and smoothed back neatly.

Geordi stood at a console at the back of the room, preparing the computer for Lore's reactivation. Data tapped away rapidly at the controls on the centre platform. His eyes flickered between Lore and the console.

Captain Picard and Counsellor Troi stood off to the side, watching them work.

"This will not take long." Data assured them, finalising his input.

"What will happen when you, uhm…" Captain Picard began.

"We really don't know." Geordi said helpfully. "If this works, it might take a minute or two for all of his systems to come online, especially with the reset."

"I see." The Captain nodded.

"I just hope he wakes up." Deanna said, walking up the steps to examine Lore's blank eyes.

"I too, counsellor." Data said.

After a few minutes Geordi turned to the Captain.

"Sir, we're about ready." He said.

"Very well, Mr La Forge. Make it so." Picard replied.

An electric hum filled the air, and a soft beeping issued from Data's console. He tapped a few buttons.

"The Data Sub-Processors are overloading." Geordi said, bringing up a schematic on one of the monitors.

"I will compensate with the Primary Input Processors." Data replied quickly, his hands moving in a blur across the console. "His Positronic Matrix has been restored to its original parameters."

"Well at least he's out of danger." Geordi sighed.

"What's happening?" Deanna asked, looking between them.

"Lore's Positronic Net has reset to its original programming." Data explained.

"He'll be just as he was when Dr Soong first activated him." Geordi added. "Are we good to go Data?"

"Yes Geordi, I believe we are." Data stepped away from his console and walked over to his brother. He dug his fingers into the small of Lore's back until he heard a faint click.

Lore's hand twitched against the forcefield that held him up, and the golden light slowly returned to his eyes. His head twitched dramatically and his face gained some semblance of awareness. He looked between the faces that gazed up at him with great concentration. Eventually he came to a stop looking directly at Data.

"Hello. I am Lore."


End file.
